The present invention relates to an improvement in the design of dental forceps that are commonly employed in the extraction of molars from the mandible of dental patients.
In the practice of dentistry, it is often necessary to remove teeth for a variety of reasons including extensive decay, fractures or advanced periodontal disease. Teeth with more than one root, such as molars, often require the tooth to be sectioned prior to extraction. The sectioning process entails using a dental hand piece to divide the remaining coronal portion of the tooth into sections so that each root may be removed as an individual unit with any remaining coronal portion of the tooth. Use of the currently available instruments often results in forces being applied to the root during extraction that may lead to fracture of the root tip below the level of bone which leaves portions of the root inaccessible to the operator thus, requiring a surgical procedure in order to gain access to the fractured root tip so that it may be removed. This surgical procedure usually involves laying a gingival flap and removal of the cortical and cancellous bone with a surgical hand piece in order to reach the fractured root tip. Use of this surgical procedure can lead to increased post operative pain for the patient, loss of bone that could be used for reconstructive purposes and sensitivity of adjacent teeth.
From this discussion it can seen that it would be desirable to have an instrument that could be used to facilitate the removal of roots in a manner that allows the sectioned roots to be removed individually without the fracture that could necessitate surgical intervention.